Agricultural Commissioner Ashley Randle presented father and son farmers Morven and Ian Allen with National Dairy Month proclamation. The Allen farm was the third she'd visited on Monday morning. 

SHEFFIELD, Mass. — State Agricultural Commissioner Ashley Randle visited three dairy farms in Western Massachusetts on Monday to recognize National Dairy Month.

"It's an opportunity to learn about dairies, how they're diversifying ways that we can support them at the state level, and also to highlight the impacts of our investments at the state level," Randle said.

Randle visited three farms, Pine Island Farm and Maple Shade Farm in Sheffield, and Luther Belden Farm in Hatfield.

"So many of these farms have gone through the Agricultural Preservation Restriction Program and have protected their land in perpetuity," Randle said. "In the Berkshires, the land cost being so high, it's a way for dairies to remain viable and to protect the land that they're farming on. The dairy tax credit is another program that has really helped to sustain the overall viability of the dairy sector in Massachusetts, and so we heard from farms about the impacts of that program, and then our other grant programs that provide for infrastructure improvements on the farm, climate related, soil health related.

"It's been a great opportunity to hear directly from the farmers."

At Maple Shade Farm, also known as the Allen farm, father and son duo Morven and Ian Allen, hosted the Department of Agricultural Resources officials as well as some students as a part of the Massachusetts Agriculture Youth Council.

"For the students that came out today, it's an opportunity for them to see different styles of dairy farms. Certainly, from our first farm to this farm, there's different ways that they manage their land," said Randle. "The first farm had an anaerobic digester, which was unique for the youth to see, but it's also a way to position them to be more knowledgeable as they go through their careers and to help with their career exploration."

Randle said she loves to connect with dairy farmers as she grew up on a dairy farm, and it helps to know what her office can do to help them.

"I grew up on a fifth-generation dairy farm in Western Massachusetts, so for me to be able to connect with the dairy farmers is always really special. And every time we have an opportunity to visit the dairy farms and hear what's happening, it's a great opportunity for me to connect and learn about what challenges they're anticipating for the year ahead, how we can either adapt our programs or provide technical assistance to the farms, if it's weather related challenges or whatever it may be that they're experiencing," she said.

At Maple Shade Farm, the Allens showed everyone around and talked to the students about what they do.

Olivia Silvernail of Adams, a student at Hoosac Valley High School in Cheshire, is in the school's environmental science pathway. She loves animals and wildlife and said she is still figuring out what exactly she wants to do. Her tour of the farms are helping her to figure that out.

"Adams isn't a very big farming town, well it used to be but it's not really anymore, so I don't get to go around and see a lot of farms. This is a really good experience learning about how cows get milked, the processes for that and everything like that, and it's kind of just fun and I can get a smile on my face because I get to see cows," she said.

She also said she was thinking about doing more conservation but Monday's event has made her think she may want to go more into an agriculture program or if she could mix the two.

Natalie Minster, a student from Bristol County Agricultural High School, would like to work in the dairy industry. She said it was great to see and learn about the different ways farmers work.

"It's cool to see different ways that people arrange their farms, like these people have their pens for their fresh cows and then they sort them based on production and just the mentality that different farmers have for how they arrange their farm making things economical and just being able to get different perspectives is really cool and interesting," she said.